Letter-box fastener.



PATENTED FEB. 7. 1905.

E. F. WALLAGB.

LETTER BOX FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1904.

MJTORAEK iJNITED STATES Patented February '7, 1905.

EMILUS F. \VALLACE, OF SYRACUSE, NElV YORK.

LETTER-BOX FASTENER- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.781,754, dated February '7, 1905.

. Application filed May 31, 1904. Serial No. 210,501.

To 117/ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMILUs FJVALLAon, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Letter-Box Fasteners, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to a device for fastening letter-boxes by which aletter-box may be detach-ably secured to a telegraph-pole, post, orother support upon which it may be desired to place a letter-box withoutliability of being maliciously removed or displaced.

My object is to provide a simple, practical, and etticient fasteningmeans for the letterlJOX which can be locked and unlocked only from theinside of said letter-box by the employee or attendant who has a key andis legally entitled to open the box.

Other more specific objects and uses will appear in the followingdescription.

in the clrawings,Figure 1 is an elevation of my improvedletter-box-fastening device, the portion of one of the bearings for thepintle of the locking member being broken away to show said pintle.Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken, respectively, on lines 2 9. and3 3, Fig. 1, the movable locking member being shown in its lockedposition in full lines in 1 Fig. and in its unlocked position by dottedlines. Figs. a and 5 are fragmentary perspective views showing,respectively, a portion of the member which is secured to the post orother support and a portion of the element which is secured to theletter-box.

ln 2-, A represents a support, such as a portion of a post, pole, orbuilding, to which is secured by suitable fastening means, as screws 1/,a sheet-metal plate 1 of rectangular form, as seen in Fig. 1, and havingits central portion pressed or stamped outwardly to form a dovetail ribhaving beveled sides 2 and a concave front 3, the sides convergingrearwardly from the front and are separated some distance from eachother to afford as broad a hearing as possible for the locking member,presently described, which is secured to the letter-box. This metalplate 1 is secured to the support A in such manner that its dovetail ribstands in a substantially vertical position, with the sides 2 2substantially parallel vertically from top to bottom and the frontdished inwardly or rearwardly and transversely, so that the sides, orrather vertical side edges of the sides, 2 2 project some distancebeyond the longitudinal center of the front 3. A portion of the front 3near the bottom of the plate 1 is cut away to form a transverse slot oropening 4, which is comparatively narrow vertically,but extends fromside to side between the front edges of the sides 2, the lower edge ofthis slot being formed with a substantially central projection 5,extending upwardly a short distance, so as to form opposite lateralabutments or shoulders 5.

1 have thus far described the part of the fastening device which ispermanently secured to the support A, and while this device is describedas being formed of sheet metal it is evident that it may be made fromcast metal or other suitable material, the essential feature being toprovide a vertical rib which is dovetail in cross-section and has atrans verse cut-out in its front face for a purpose presently described.

B represents a letter-box, to which is secured by any suitable fasteningmeans, as screws or rivets, a sheet-metal plate 6, having a dovetailgroove '7, formed by bending the opposite longitudinal edges of theplate (5 in the same direction toward each other, so as to formrearwardly-converging sides 8, united to the main body, as 9, which inthis instance is substantially flat or plain from top to bottom. 'lhismain body or front portion 9 of the plate 6 is also cut away near itslower end for forming a transverse slot ll) of substantially the samevertical width as the slot L in the plate 1 and is also located atsubstantially the same distance from the bottom.

The central portions of the lower and upper l edges of the front portion9 of the plate 6 are slightly depressed at 11 and 12 to form bearingsfor pintles 13 of a horizontal rock- 1 ing locking member 14. Thelocking member 14 is therefore journaled in the bearings 11 12 and isheld in said bearings by suitable clampingplates 15. This locking memberand its pintles are formed of sheet metal, the main body beingplano-convex in cross-section, so as to form a vertical openingtherethrough from top to bottom, and when the parts are locked together,as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the lower end of the locking member letincloscs the projection 5, to prevent said locking member from beingrotated to its unlocked position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The transverse slot lin the plate 1 is somewhat wider vertically thanthe vertical width of the locking member 14 and its slot 10, the widthof the slot 1 depending upon the vertical length of the projection5-that is, a clear space between the upper edge of the projection 5 andlower edge of the slot 4 must be equal to or greater than the verticalwidth of the locking member 14, so that the latter may be unlocked orthrown to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 when theletter-box is elevated a sufficient distance to move the locking memberabove the plane of the upper edge of the projection 5.

The object of making the front wall 3 of the plate 1 concave is topermit a free clearance for the bearings of the pintles 13 as theletter-box, withits plate 6, is moved vertically in attaching it to ordetaching it from the plate 1.

The lower and upper ends of the dovetail rib of the plate 1 between thesides 2 and front 3 are closed by end walls 16 to prevent access throughsaid ends to the locking member 1 1 and also to prevent the entrance ofdust or moisture. This plate 6 may also be formed of cast metal or othersuitable material, the essential feature of which is to form a verticalgroove which is dovetail in cross-section and of substantially the samesize as the dovetail rib upon, which it is mounted with a sliding fit.

In assembling the parts of my invention the plate 1 is stamped orpressed to the form described and is then permanently secured to thesupport A by the screws (4. The plate 6 is also constructed and thelocking member assembled thereon in the manner described, after whichthe plate 6 is secured to the rear wall of the letter-box b, which isformed with a transverse slot or cut-out 17 of substantially the samesize as and in alinenent with the slot 10, so that when the plate 6 issecured to the letter-box the locking member 14 may be rocked upon itspintle into the interior of the letter-box, as shown by dotted lines inFig. 2, and when in this position the letterbox,with the plate6 securedthereto, is brought to such position that one end of the dovetail groove'7 is brought into registration with one end of the dovetail rib as forinstance, its upper end-whereupon the box is permitted to descend bygravity with the sides 8 interlocked with the sides 2 until the lockingmember 14 is registered with the opening 4 in the plate 1, whereupon thelocking member is rocked through the opening or slot 4;, and theletterbox is then allowed to move downwardly a slight distance until thelower end of the looking member 14: engages the lower wall of the slot 4around the projection 5, it being understood that this rocking movementof the locking member 14 is effected only from the interior of the boxB. When in this position, the lateral rocking movement of the lockingmember is limited by the shoulders 5.

In removing the box from its fastening the attendant or carrier having akey to the letter-box opens the same and is then enabled to engage thelocking member with the finger at one side of its axis and to rock thesame substantially half a revolution to the position shown by dottedlines in Fig. 2, this being done after the box is lifted or elevated aslight distance, so as to bring the locking member above the shoulder orprojection 5, and the box may now be elevated until the sides 8 of theplate 6 are disengaged from the sides 2 of the plate 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A device for fastening letter-boxes to posts and similar supportscomprising two parts having sliding interlocking connection, whereby onepart may be moved endwise from the other, opposed shoulders on one ofthe members and a movable locking device on the other member movableinto and out of looking engagement with said shoulders.

2. In combination with a letter-box and support there-for, one of theparts being provided with a dovetail rib and the other with a dovetailgroove in which said rib has asliding fit, a pivotal locking memberoperable only from the interior of the letter-box and operativelyengaged with the support for locking the box to the support.

3. The combination with a support having a vertical rib dovetail incross-section, a let ter-box having a vertical groove dovetail incross-section and having a sliding fit with the rib, an opening in therib and a pivotal locking member on the letter-box accessible only fromthe interior of said box and movable into and out of said opening forlocking the letter-box to the rib.

1. A device for fastening letter-boxes to from independent endwisemovement relative to the plate. Y

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of May,1904.

EMILUS F. VALLAUE.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, MILDRED M. No'r'r.

